Beneath The Mask
by Anyxia
Summary: WARNING: MATURE CONTENT. This is intended to be a Light x L yaoi. I do not own or profit from the characters depicted in this fiction, they are property of the creators of DeathNote. Light & L are chained together in Light's attempt to clear his name from being the number one suspect of Kira. The more time the two spend together, the more Light wants to learn who the real L is.
1. Chapter 1

Being tethered to the strange young man for the past several weeks had been exhausting. L almost never slept, and when he did, he was always sitting with his shoulders hunched forward and his knees up by his ears. When Light had first met this strange character, he of course judged him immediately on his outward appearance, the poor posture, the plain, lackluster clothing, and those horrible dark circles beneath his eyes. He certainly didn't look like the world's greatest master mind detective, and yet here Light was, chained to this man who was not much older than he, maybe even younger. Light had to admit though, L was certainly no joke, the two of them seemed to be on the same playing field, which in Light's case was rare as he knew he surpassed just about everyone else.

The deductive skills and reasoning skills the two of them possessed far surpassed that of the average being. That being said, Light could not make any objections to still being tied to this man, yet he knew he was not Kira, though the more time he spent with L and being subtly accused every now and then did have him questioning this himself.

Light shook his head as the inkling of the thought crossed his mind again, _Impossible. I would remember killing all those people if I were him. _These doubts were starting to hang around more often and Light frowned as his mind wrapped around the topic once more.

"Something wrong?" the low monotone voice interrupted, and it came with a set of wide eyes that Light had felt boring into him for quite some time now. Light let out a sigh and closed his own eyes to shut out the light from the computer in front of him.

"Just tired, I guess." He couldn't reveal his actual thoughts seeing as though they would definitely raise more suspicion and most likely some sort of confirmation that he was in fact Kira, though he suspected L already had an idea of them anyways. Working with L was a lot like working with himself Light had noted time and time again. He was sure that if they ever decided to sit down and play a game of chess, or maybe 50 games, the result would almost always be a stalemate.

"Perhaps you'd like to take a break?" even with his eyes closed, Light could feel that unwavering gaze upon him. He imagined that L would have his head cocked a little to the right when he asked the question. L always seemed genuine whether he really was or not, and the intonation in his voice that gave nothing away helped to immensely obscure his sincerity as well.

"Nah, we should just finish up following these leads first, between the two of us it shouldn't take us much longer, another three hours or so, don't you think?" Light opened his eyes as he said this and turned his head to see L exactly as he imagined, head cocked ever so slightly to the right, knees up to his chin, hands placed on knees, and feet rubbing over one another so that one overlapped the other every few seconds.

"Oh, right." L was always so short with his responses sometimes, anyone else may have thought they had offended him in some way, but Light got the huge impression that L was a bit socially awkward, he clearly didn't go out much, and Light was sure L would have a much better relationship with a machine rather than another human being. With that response though, L turned back to his work and started clicking away at the keyboard in front of him, pausing here and there to read something more thoroughly. Light was actually really impressed at L's filter; he really didn't miss a thing.

"Two hours and forty eight minutes, not bad," Light smiled at his bizarre keeper. L simply just stared for a moment.

"Hn, well there's still more to do, but I suppose we can break for now, do you want some cake?" it was faint, but Light could see a small spark in L's eyes whenever he thought about something sweet. It was strange to think, but cake definitely seemed to satisfy L the way a bubble bath would do to someone who had spent a long day doing physical labor. Light wasn't really a fan of too many sweets, but he knew once L wanted cake, he couldn't really object. A small, tender smile met his lips when he thought of how this kind of behavior reminded him of a small child. Here was the world's greatest detective, who had seen the ugliest of the ugly, and maintained this weird kind of innocence. Or at least, that's how Light saw it.

"Sure, let's go get some cake," Light got up from the desk chair and pocketed his hands waiting for L to lead the way. A strange look fell on L's features for just a fraction of a second before he too got up from his desk chair. Light wondered what the strange look was for, L was always so guarded; he never let his mask fall, especially around his number one suspect of Kira. Light wondered if L even knew he had let his poker face slip, and surely L would know that Light caught the expression, because he rarely missed things either. _Hm, should I mention it? It's weird, I feel like I always know what the guy's thinking, but at the same point in time, I don't think I ever know. We definitely think in almost perfect unison when it comes to this case, but on a personal level, I don't know him at all._

Light found his curiosity of L's personal thoughts grow each time L did or said something that contradicted what he embodied. _It's weird and even a bit unfair to think that L knows much more about me personally than I do him. I understand that this is his way of protecting himself, and rationally speaking he can't really show emotion because he needs to use pure reason and logic to solve cases such as this one, but he's still human. I spend every second of every day with him, and yet I know nothing more about him than I did when I first met him. _They walked in silence to the elevator before boarding it. Light had suddenly come up with almost an interrogation for L and his personal life and history in the time they waited for the doors to open and enter the metal box. L's hands were buried deep in his pockets when he stood in front of the floor panel and he hunched over even more before removing one hand and pressing one of the buttons that illuminated floor 6 which of course was where the dining hall and kitchen sat on.

_Why am I so interested all of a sudden anyways? It's not like he'll tell me anything. _Light concluded with himself a bit childishly, but the questions still burned in the front of his mind. _Why not? The worst that could happen is he just won't respond. It's just small talk. _He felt weird having this debate with himself, but he could never tell what kind of reaction he'd get now, especially since L's mask had shown the tiniest indication of a crack.

"So…" those wide eyes turned on him, a hint of curiosity glinted in their otherwise black depths, and Light felt himself turn a slight shade of pink. _What the hell? Why am I blushing? It's not like I'm going to ask him anything weird or sexual._ "What made you become L?" Light expected silence and a blank stare.

"…Hnn, what do you mean? Are you asking why I became L, or did something happen that put me in this position regardless of circumstances?" The brown haired man was certainly surprised to get this kind of response, even if it was delayed.

"Uh, I guess, both? I was just curious as to how you got to where you are today, but you make it sound like you didn't have a choice in the matter, am I right?" was this conversation going to be another battle of wills? L was obviously well aware of the fact that he didn't have to share anything with Light, and why should he? According the L, if Light really was Kira, why would he confide personal information in him if Kira could somehow find a way to use anything against L, but Light could absolutely see the gears turning in L's mind as he pondered the question.

"I guess you could say I was groomed for this job," L stated matter-of-factly as he touched his chin between his thumb and the knuckle of his forefinger and looked to the ceiling. The elevator doors then slid apart revealing the spacious dining hall. L stepped through the doors first leaving a dumbfounded Light behind. Light's jaw had slacked open a little, shocked that he had gotten a straight answer from L, he was sure that this was not a lie, although he knew L could be an undetected liar whenever he felt like it. The doors began to close before Light stepped forward and reached his arm between them to push them back open and followed L into the hall. "What's the matter?" L looked over his shoulder nonchalantly with a somewhat droopy look on his face.

"Uh, nothing, I just didn't think you'd tell me something like that." He couldn't hide his stunned expression as he made his way over to the black haired man. Light watched L shrug and walk over to the massive industrial looking kitchen that was filled with brand new state of the art appliances. Light followed quickly when the chain connecting their wrists became almost taut. It was like a door had been opened, and a flood of new questions came pouring into Light's mind. The most burning one was the one he had to ask first though, "So why tell me this if you still think I'm Kira?" Light's eyes narrowed marginally and he crossed his arms over his chest in a defiant pose. A frown touched his lips as he waited for what he hoped would be a good reason.

"Well, as you know, the chance of you being Kira has significantly dropped to about 1.2%. I was a little concerned at how the likelihood of you being such kept fluctuating, but ever since you were incarcerated, much doubt has been removed." L had his hand on one of the massive stainless steel refrigerator doors in front of him that held his precious cake. The man's gaze remained in front of him, a quality that Light found to be getting on his nerves, because either L looked directly at you as if boring into your soul, or just looked as though he were talking to a wall or himself even.

Light let out a sigh; he knew he would probably never remove all doubt of him being Kira, even if they caught the actual Kira, who seemed to become more difficult to track with every day. Then again…maybe he could. A thought occurred to Light that made his heart skip a beat. _That's preposterous, why would I even remotely let a thought like that come into my mind? _

It's true that Light had always been a ladies man, what with his good looks and impeccable manners, on top of his genius and great family history. He was the all-around ideal catch. Light had shown interest in women, but only for appearances, in truth, he could care less about them, his focus and drive were meant for greater things. Now here he was developing some sort of strange emotion for a man that he barely even knew, Light shook his head almost violently to stop that train of thought.

"You're never going to believe that I'm not him, are you?" he had to recover knowing that L was always aware of what was going on in his surroundings, and Light couldn't expose these weird thoughts he was having, he just had to mask them with something relevant.

"Perhaps I will believe you…and perhaps I won't. It's difficult to say at the time being. But what are you _actually_ thinking?" L had opened the stainless steel door and appeared to be intent on scanning the interior for the cake that would speak to him, or something, and although he was hunched over in his usual manner and his longer black hair concealed those wide eyes of his, Light could pick up on the elusive tone in L's voice when he asked this, a kind of mockery? And the tiniest of smirks tugged at the young man's mouth. The Yagami son's mind raced with excuses, but remaining cool and calm on the surface was a specialty of his. He was a quick thinker as well, and was sure he could pause to come up with an answer without making it obvious that it was indeed a lie. Or perhaps, he should tell the truth? Maybe L would unchain them if he knew about Light's dirty little secret. Light chuckled out loud at this, and proceeded to tell L the truth about his thoughts.


	2. Chapter 2

"Alright, I'll tell you." A smirk played on Light's own lips as he concluded to reveal a little of himself that he kept hidden from L. Maybe with a little show and tell, L might open up a little more himself. Light couldn't help but feel a sense of triumph when L paused after he looked to have finally found something that caught his interest in the massive fridge, and was removing it to enjoy. "It's the strangest thing actually," Light started to explain, not even trying to hide his amusement in watching L's reaction. "I've been having these thoughts lately; they're a bit disturbing considering the fact that I've never had thoughts like these before. On top of that, I never considered myself attracted to men; I actually still don't, but with that being said, I find myself growing fond of you." Light expressed this in his usual cool manner, but his cheeks flushed with color as he truly admitted this secret to L.

The piece of yellow cake iced with what seemed to be a lemon flavored frosting made a soft plopping sound as it hit the floor. L still held onto the corner of the plate the sweet had been sitting on, but just barely.

"I beg your pardon?" the raven haired man was at a loss for words as this confession from Chief Yagami's son came out of nowhere. Light could see the inundation of thoughts racing around behind L's eyes. An admission like this left Light feeling very vulnerable, which was positively unusual for him. It was impossible to tell what L was thinking, but Light just smiled shyly and shrugged.

"I guess I just want to get to know you better, I mean I don't dislike you at all, which says something considering the fact that we've been chained together for almost a month now." Light lifted his cuffed wrist to reiterate his statement.

"So, then, what is it that you want from me?" L asked indifferently, although Light could see the curiosity effervescing beneath the surface. Light grabbed a paper towel from the smooth marble countertop behind him, and then crouched down to clean up the cake mess on the floor. The young man insouciantly peered up at the awkward L before him, to find a surprising look of shock settling in on his features. This was starting to become fun, as weird as he felt flirting with another man. Light didn't think he would have the same effect on the same gender; he was honestly not sure what he was doing at all. It was true that spending all this time with L he had undeniably grown fond of him, but he never dreamed he would find himself attracted to him in this manner.

"Just cake for right now, I suppose." Light ran his tongue over his top lip almost seductively after he stated this. L's eyes narrowed suddenly, the wide sockets became large slits as his brow furrowed. The crack in the mask was becoming larger as Light just threw his aside altogether. Light stood up with the paper towel full of cake and nodded towards the still open fridge. "You still want some, right?"

"Yes…I suppose I do," L seemed too baffled to say anything else at the moment and turned his attention back to the interior of the cold appliance. When he turned back around, he had a cake in each hand, which he held still by the corners of the plate, as if he were holding delicate treasure. L held out one for Light, which the brown haired man accepted with a smile. They both found forks in one of the many drawers in the kitchen and sat down next to one another on breakfast bar stools that encircled the massive kitchen island. For a while they both ate in silence, and Light could feel those deep black eyes scrutinizing him once again.

"Mm," Light pretended not to notice L's intent gaze and decided to focus on the sweet in front of him, which was rather delicious, though perhaps a little too sweet for his taste. Looking at the licked clean fork he just removed from his mouth, Light placed an elbow on the countertop and rested his chin in the palm of his hand. "Ryuzaki, it's getting pretty late, do you want to call it a night?" The brown haired man glanced over without turning his head to find L now gazing at the piece of sweet on his fork before opening his mouth to swallow the cut. He felt the weird, yet all too familiar feeling of lust as his focus was drawn to L's orifice. Light quickly averted his eyes and felt his heart begin to race and beat loudly in his ears. _Geez! What the heck is going on?! Keep cool; you're acting like a stupid horny teenager, and not even over a girl! _

"I thought we were just taking a break, but if you're tired, I guess we can turn in." L stated after swallowing the last morsel of his treat. Light's cheeks were slightly flushed again as he rose from his barstool taking the dessert dish with him and reaching over to take L's. Their hands brushed against each other's sending an electric spark through Light's nerves. His flushed cheeks were becoming more and more difficult to hide as his usual cool, calm, collected self suddenly turned into this aroused, shy, self-conscious being.

"S-sorry," Light stammered as he jerked his hand away, and took both dessert dishes with him, afraid to see what L's reaction would be to that. He began to stomp away when there was a tug on his wrist. _That's right…how could I forget that I'm chained to him? _At least he had gone as far as he needed to go to place the small dessert plates in the shiny, clean sink. He ran the hot water for a minute or two when that bored voice sounded.

"You can just leave them there; they'll be taken care of. Why don't we go somewhere to talk?" Light swallowed a lump in his throat as L walked past him, leading the way out of the kitchen. This was unusual behavior on L's part. Light's own curiosity was now piqued though, L only ever talked about the case, and to talk about the case, they never needed to go anywhere. Taskforce Headquarters was an incredible fortress in which all the members could relax somewhat with a little sense of security here. Another tug on Light's wrist prompted him to follow and catch up to slacken the lead a bit. The two men stood in front of the chrome doors to the elevators again and waited as the one on the left descended from the 9th floor. Once inside the chrome box, L hunched even lower again and this time pressed a button for a floor that the Yagami son had not been to yet. _Why are we going to the basement? _The young man wondered as they started their descent.

When the doors opened after what seemed like an eternity in awkward silence for Light, he was greeted by a dark, sleek looking room. He had to wait for his eyes to adjust to the low lighting, and upon observation he noticed a single metal chair in the center of an almost empty room. _An interrogation room? _It was the only thing Light could think of as he scanned the room. L tugged at the chain linking them together and snapped Light out of his reverie. The room of course was massive, just like the rest of the building, so Light couldn't truly see the back wall as there were no lights that far down, not even dimly lit ones.

"What are we doing here?" Light kept his voice even, but was actually a bit nervous for what L had in store for him down here.

"We will talk here. This floor is the only one in the building without any kind of surveillance. We can talk here without being overheard, and no one is watching us here either. You will sit there," L gestured to the single metal chair sitting under one of the only low watt lights in the room. Light watched as the black haired man dug into one of his pockets and fiddled with his wrist that was bound. He could hear the sounds of metal clinking against itself and the clicking of a cuff being released. Before he knew what was going on L was standing before him and grasping his free wrist with the cuff that he had just removed from himself.

"Hey! What's the idea here? You know I have almost free range with my arms now, the chain is too long to subdue anyone." Light thought this was just silly. He could spread his arms out to their full span with the chain as long as it was on these cuffs. L was still standing very close to Light with his head down, staring at the cuff he just placed on the brown haired man, his cool pale hands still grasping the other male's wrist. Light heard a click and all of a sudden the chain started to retract at an alarming rate. In seconds his hands were side by side in front of him and try as he might to part them, whatever L had done, the cuffs were locked together.

"Hm, is that better?" L looked up with that ghostly wide eyed look, but there seemed to be a snicker in there somewhere, the cracks in his mask were becoming more visible with every passing minute. "Please sit there," again he pointed to the straight backed metal chair, and Light obliged with an eye roll.

"You said we were going to talk, Ryuzaki." Light stated as he sat gingerly on the edge of the seat. He leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees and fisted his hands as he brought them up to his chin.

"We are, but I don't trust you. I can't seem to figure out what you're trying to pull right now. It's bothersome." L had shoved his hands back into his jean pockets again and lifted his eyes to meet those of Light's. Eerie shadows were cast on L's figure in the gloomy lighting; his eyes appeared much darker than usual. Light let out a sigh and racked his brain to get this distrusting ally of his to understand that this was new for him too, and that he wasn't entirely sure what he was doing or saying. The best thing to do in this situation was to just do what L wanted. L definitely liked to have control, and although Light did too, he didn't mind relinquishing it if it meant L would finally trust him.

"Alright, so now what?" Light asked as he leaned back against the chair in a slouched position, his shoulders rounded forward and he let his cuffed together hands fall in his lap. Things had been going great, or at least they had seemed to be, Light felt like he was almost back at square one.

"Emotions cloud reason and logic. As you know, I also like you. I don't trust you, because you remind me of myself, but there's something about you I can't help but acknowledge as encouraging." L once again peered through narrow eyes at the young man, and Light couldn't help but drop his jaw a little when this confession surfaced. "Being your friend was one thing, but you have seemed to up the ante a little, haven't you? So again, what is it that you want from me?" Light felt a little cornered. He had gotten used to the wide eyed stare from his keeper, but this overwhelming scrutiny on top of the personally probing question, whether it had at first been welcomed or not, was a bit much for Light to take right now. Sure they were alone, and it had seemed like an ideal situation at first, what with no audio or video surveillance, but had he gotten in over his head?


	3. Chapter 3

L had started out only a few feet away from where Light sat slouched on the metal chair, but by the time the black haired man was finished speaking he was standing almost over Light. At this point, the only answer Light could give L was what he did next. Light nearly leaped to his feet in an attempt to find the detective's lips with his own. He succeeded and tilted his head a fraction to the left to make the puzzle pieces of their mouths fit together. Light closed his eyes when he met his goal and almost waited for a reaction from L before he let his tongue slide beyond his rows of pearly whites to wet the lips of his keeper. The reaction Light eventually got was one that surprised him, but the one he had hoped for. L parted his lips to welcome Light's probing tongue.

The Yagami boy felt the raven haired young man's hands cup his face, and was a bit surprised to find that kissing him was not so different from kissing a girl. Actually, Light wasn't sure what he was expecting when making these bold moves, but his nerves started to settle, and he relaxed into the passionate moment. L's lips were soft, and when Light removed his tongue from L's mouth, he suckled and nibbled his keeper's bottom lip as the raven haired man sucked on his top lip. Light wanted to embrace L, but with his hands constrained in such a manner he had no choice but to let his arms dangle awkwardly below the two.

An idea occurred to him then and the brown haired man and he reached his bound together hands forward until he felt the familiar feeling of jean fabric, and beneath the surface, another familiar feeling of the male anatomy. Light stroked up and down slowly with the back of his hands, as using his palms would have been uncomfortable, and possibly painful to his wrists. L took a sharp intake of breath as Light began to touch him, and Light deepened the kiss, moving his tongue fervently around L's to take his mind off the violation. Both of them started emitting soft "mm's" as the osculation dragged on, the two of them becoming more excited the longer it continued.

L ran his hands through Light's hair, pulling at the shorter locks at the back if his head. Light tilted his head back and let L raven his neck with succulent kisses and suckles. L moved his tongue in a circular motion near Light's jugular vein, which pulsed beneath the man's mouth, and then let out light sighs along the now salivated skin. As L's warm breath tickled Light's neck, the young man became even more aroused. It was almost like a tease, the gentle alternation between L's soft tongue and then his sweet breath to which the scent of cake and sugar danced on. L began to work his hands down Light's body, both men were thin, but very much in shape, and Light flexed and tensed his muscles as the raven haired young man began to explore him.

L's hands were soft on Light's skin, when he began to travel the body beneath Light's clothes. Both heartbeats were accelerated as excitement and tension grew. The heat exchange between their bodies being close became hotter as the two indulged in their kiss. L then broke the kiss suddenly. Light thought he was going crazy, but he found himself wanting more. He caught L's bottom lip between his and gently pulled, he felt L's lip curve up into a smile before L pushed him back onto the chair.

"This is certainly an odd way to plot against me." L mused in that monotone voice, but the smile remained on his features.

"I'm not plotting against you," Light sighed shaking his head, "how can you say that? I'm trying to help you and…I'm bound, remember?" Light lifted his hands to reiterate. L just stared curiously at Light. _He doesn't trust me… _"Look, what do you want me to do?" Light peered up at the dark haired man through almost innocent eyes.

L then licked the side of Light's face from his jaw line to his cheek. "Hn, I want you to sit there," was the reply that followed. Light stayed in the chair and watched as L drew back into the shadows. The young man could just barely make out the other's outline before he disappeared from sight completely. _Where's he going? _Light mused to himself as he narrowed his eyes trying to adjust his vision to the darkness outside the veil of light provided by the single lamp above him. Light strained his ears, now trying to listen to what his keeper was up to in the dark; he could hear shuffling sounds and knew L was moving around. The sound of something sliding, it was a metallic sound, perhaps a drawer? Light could also make out the noises of things being moved around, and they had to be in a metal drawer of sorts.

"What are you doing Ryuzaki?" The young brown haired man couldn't suppress his curiosity, and was disappointed when his question was followed by silence. He was tempted to go over and find out, but had to remind himself to just obey L for the time being. The silence was broken by the sound of L's returning footsteps, and Light was hit by a strange mix of emotions, he was nervous, apprehensive, and excited all at once. The mystery behind everything was very alluring, and daunting at the same time, and Light found himself becoming more aroused as each footstep his keeper took got closer. Finally L's outline came into view and Light teetered on the edge of his seat, he sat up as tall as he could as if it would make a difference in how well he would see.

When L finally came into view, he was holding what looked like two bottles of some sort of lotion, or liquid maybe. Light couldn't really read the labels since L had them facing him. He pinched the tops of the containers between his thumb and forefinger as though they were delicate objects or repulsive, Light could never figure out which. One bottle was transparent with a blue top and black lettering. The logo on the opposite side, which Light could barely make out in the dim lighting, seemed to look like a splatter with writing in big bold letters across the front. The other bottle was red in color and looked like a tube of body or hand lotion.

"What have you got there?" Light cocked his head to the side in the same manner as L; a frown tugged at the corners of his mouth in incomprehension. L looked up from reading both bottles and twisted his wrists so that their front labels face the Yagami boy. Light could feel the color drain from his face as realization hit when he read the first tube, the clear on was labeled 'Wet Flavored' and he didn't need to read the other one although his eyes scanned it to confirm that it was indeed another form or lubrication. "What the hell!?" was all the young man could muster and gave L a mortified look of shock. The snicker on L's face was fully visible now; the mask was gone in this safe room. It seemed as though L was enjoying himself, and was actually visibly showing it. _Interesting…_ Light thought to himself and tried to regain his composure. _Two can play this game. _"So, who's first?" Light smiled devilishly up at the black haired man, he wasn't sure if it would work having already given away his true fear of what he thought was about to happen, but was pleasantly surprised to see L pause and look a bit taken aback. Was he just playing with him after all?


End file.
